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IN COMMEMORATION 



INDEPENDENCE 



UNITED STATES, 

DELIVERED AT ROCHESTER, 
JUIiV 4, 1828 y 



feT DAVID BARKER, JR. 



PUBLISHED BY REQ,UEST. 



DOVER: 

i:SrQUIRER PRESS — G. W. ELA AND CO. PRINTERS. 
1828; 



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My Friends and Fellow Citizens, — I hope you have 
not assembled here to-day with any excited expectations, that 
by any effort of mine, I can add to the liberal tribute of grat- 
itude and joy, with which you are accustomed to meet the 
return of this festival. From the cradle of our infancy we 
have been familiar with the story of the events, which gave 
existence to this great nation. Our reflections upon it, our 
recital of its history has often been, rather an exercise of fan- 
cy, than of the understanding. Connected as we are by the 
ties of relationship with the actors in the revolution, we be- 
come, as it were, ourselves mingled in its events, and thus we 
magnify its importance with all the fascinations of self love. 

These remarks are not made to detract any thing from this 
momentous epoch in the history of our country, but to illus- 
trate the difficulty of properly discussing it. No person can 
appreciate more highly than myself that true spirit of freedom 
which gave it birth, or that devoted patriotism and gallantry 
which sustained the contest. Such are my own impressions 
of its importance, that I feel myself inadequate to do justice 
to the reflections which its contemplation excites in my own 
mind, much less can I hope to do more justice to yours. If I 
can but direct the current of your thoughts to a proper consid- 
eration of the great principles, in the maintainance of which our 
struggle for independence had its origin, it is all I can expect, 
or shall aim to accomplish. 

You all know that the first setders of New-England were in- 
duced to leave their native country in search of religious freedom . 
They belonged to the sect of Puritans, dissenters from the estab- 
lished church of England. Influenced by a spirit of intolerance, 
almost universal in that day, which, in the present age, a more 
enlightened reason has corrected, the government of their own 



country prohibited tS them the free exercise of their religion. 
For this they encountered the perils of the sea, which were 
great in the then imperfect state of navigation, the inconven- 
iences of settlement in a wild and uncultivated country, and 
the terrors of famin^e and of the savage. 

The government of the colony, in its infant state, w as of a 
patriarchal character, deriving its authority more from the pro- 
found respect and confidence reposed in their leaders, than 
from any civil compact. At first, the number of the colonists 
was so small and the limits of the setdement so contracted, 
that they could well transact all the more important public af- 
fairs in a general assembly. As the colony, however, increased 
rapidly in numbers and in extent, diis became impracticable. 
The legislative authority was accordingly confided to a repre- 
sentative assembly, chosen regularly by tlie colonists at fixed 
periods. The transactions and civd relations of the colonies 
becoming more various and extended, die legislative assem- 
blies acquired a proportionably enlarged jurisdiction, and ex- 
ercised a more important and responsible superintendance of 
the public concerns. By an interchange of sendments and 
information between individuals from all parts of the several 
colonies, dirough the medium of the Assemblies, an exact 
knowledge of public feeling was acquired. This imparted 
also a knowledge of their resources, and at the same time ef- 
fected an unity of opinion on all topics touching dieir political 
privileges, which could give to those resources the most vigor- 
ous action. To these advantages of polidcal organization was 
added a higher degree of education both literary and moral, 
and more extensively diffused among the great body of the 
people, than had hitherto existed in any other widely extend- 
ed community. These various causes contributed to form a 
people not only capable of self government, but to infuse into 
their minds that moral courage requisite to sustain them in the 
mighty conflict, without which it was apparent that the mother 
country would not relinquish that dominion, which was con- 
sidered the richest jewel in the crown. 

Such was the situadon of the New-England colonies and 
the character of die inhabitants, at the period when the parent 
country claimed to exercise the power of levying taxes and 
dudes upon them without their consent. The exercise of diat 
authority Avas resisted, not so much for the reason that any 
immediately oppressive burthen was endeavored to be impos- 



ed, as for the declaration of a principle of government, whicli, 
in time to come, might limit the measure of taxation only by 
the ability of the people to contribute. It is clear that such 
a principle, if admitted, would have reduced this country to 
the condition of a Roman province, to be plundered at the 
sovereign will of King and Parliament, and to minister with 
its resources to all their multiplied schemes of ambition. 
But, thanks be to Heaven, there were sagacious spirits in 
that day, who discovered the cloud in the horizon,when it was no 
larger than a man's hand — who did not wail until it had over- 
spread the whole Heavens with its threatening ruin. Yes, 
my fellow citizens, there was Hancock, the Adamses, 
Franklin, Henry, Jefferson, and Lee, who could snufFthe ap- 
proach of despotism in the tainted breeze and meet it fearless- 
ly in whatever questionable shape it might come. 

We cannot properly estimate the real characters of the lead-» 
ers in the Revolutionary contest and the purity of th.eir mo- 
tives, without considering the relations which they sustained to 
the government, whose claims of power they resisted. They 
were almost without exception men of the greatest wealth, 
and of the most distinguished talents, in the colonies. By ad- 
hering to the British Government, they might have enjoyed 
their possessions widiout severe exactions, and many of them 
might have justly expected to receive the honours and emolu- 
ments of the first offices in the gift of the crown. Instead of 
yieldmg to these allurements, they placed at hazard their pri- 
vate fortunes, die security and the hopes of their families, and 
even their lives and their fair fame ; for misfortune in their en- 
terprise, instead of conferring the meed of patriotism, which 
attaches to success, would have stamped their eftbrts with the 
ignominy of treason. A responsibility even greater than tliis 
rested upon the Congress that proclaimed the Declaration of 
Independence. The blood of their fellow citizens, whicli must 
necessarily flow freely in the progress of the desperate con- 
flict which was to follow, would in the opinion of posterity be 
upon their heads, according to the final issue. 

There is one fact immediately connected with tliis subject, 
which ought to be more generally known. At one moment, 
during the discussion of this momentous question in the Con- 
tinental Congress, some of the most ardent friends of liberty 
conscious of its overwhelming importance began to hesitate 
and incline to timid — perhaps it might be better said — to pru- 



dent counsels. As a just tribute to the memory of Jolin Ad- 
ams, it should 1)6 told to every American citizen, that in this 
important exigency, he urged the adoption of the measure 
with all the energies of his mind and with all the powers of his 
eloquence. After stating fully the reasons of policy in favor 
of the declaration, he is said to have concluded his argument 
in language of the following animated and intrepid character. 
" Sir, 1 know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see 
" clearly, through this day's business. You and I, indeed may 
" rue it. We may not live to the time, when this declaration 
"shall be made good. We may die ; die, colonists ; die, 
" slaves ; die, it may \ye, ignominiously and on the scaffold. 
" Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that 
" my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the 
" victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, 
^' come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have 
" a country, or at least the hope of a countrj', and that a free 
" country. 

" But whatever may be our fate, be assured that this de- 
" claration will stand. It may cost treasure, it may cost blood ; 
" but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. — 
" Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness 
" of the future^ as the sun in the Heavens. We shall make this 
" a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, 
" our children will honour it. They will celebrate it with 
" thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. 
" Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment 
" approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that 
" I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I 
" am now ready here to stake upon it ; and 1 leave off as I 
" begun, tliatlive or die, survive or perish, I am for the declara- 
" tion. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God 
" it shall be my dying sentiment ; Independence now; and 
" Independence forever." His bold and determined counsel 
prevailed. The Declaration of Independence, as presented 
by Mr. Jefferson, the chairman of the committee, to which 
duty he was appointed on the nomination of Mr. Adams, was 
unanimously accepted by Congress. 

To no one individual is this country more largely indebted, 
than to John Adams, for his ardent and patriotic zeal in the 
crisis of its destiny. This tribute of just acloiowledgement 



should be the more cheerfully given, at this lime, as the ma- 
lio-nity of party feeling, to accomplish its despicable purposes, 
has attempted to detract from his well earned fame, as a sin- 
cere and devoted friend of civil liberty. The means which 
are employed for this purpose, arc well worthy of the object 
to be effected, and fully illustrate the character of his accus- 
ers. Soon after the peace of 1783, while Mr. Adams was 
in England, as the minister of the Confederated States, for the 
instruction of his countrymen in the principles of republican 
government he published a commentary on the constitutions 
of the several States. This work which contained copious 
historical details of most of the ancient and modern Repuljlics, 
with sagacious reflections upon their excellencies and defects, 
was received with universal praise by the worthiest men of the 
time. It was not even suspected to contain a single maxim or 
comment inconsistent with the great principles of freedom, in 
support of which the contest had just ceased. After the lapse 
of nearly half a century, an individual has been found so re- 
gardless of the little candour or even that loose morality, which 
has heretofore been observed in the warfare of party discus- 
sion, as to attach his own name to a publication consisting of 
garbled extracts from this work, taking here a sentence and 
there a sentence, accompanied with remarks in the same spirit, so 
as entirely to pervert the obvious and intelligible meaning of the 
author. This fraudulent publication entitled " An exposition 
of the political principles of the Adams' family," some of you 
may possibly have seen, as I may venture to say, that there is 
scarcely a town or village in the country, to which numerous 
copies, by the aid of the franking privilege, have not been 
sent. It imparts no new charm to this species of political 
morality, that the great champion of English freedom, Alger- 
non Sidney, by the same disingenuous combination of sepa- 
rate and unconnected passages from his Treatise on Govern- 
ment, was condemned for treason and suffered on the block. 
The same unprincipled spirit of lust of power, which unscru- 
pulously consigned to ignominious death the illustrious martyr 
to English liberty, would now, without remorse, cover with 
infamy the sacred memory of the eloquent advocate of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

You all know, my fellow citizens, with what consistent firm- 
ness and determination the patriotism of Congress was receiv- 
ed aad uniformly sustained by the whole country. The histo- 



• 8 

jy of our revolution iiirnishes one more illuslrions example to 
those of earlier times, that a people determined to be free, 
and virtuous enough to be free, cannot be subdued. Their 
country may be laid waste, their towns may be desolated with 
fire and sword, freedom will start again into life and vigour 
from the slumbering embers of its own ruin. Like the Great 
Roman Commonwealth, liberty can never perish except by its 
own liand. 

The Independence of this country having been acknowl- 
edged by the peace of '83, the scarcely less difficult task re- 
mained of establishing it upon a permanent basis. The ar- 
ticles of confederation, so long as they were sustained by the 
states, under the sanction of a sense of s'elf preservation, an- 
swered sufficiently well all the purposes of government. 
But when assailed by the rivalships of state jealousies, and 
by the competition of trade and mercantile speculations, the 
hitherto existing bond of Union was found to be insufficient. 
In forming such a constitution as was adapted to the exigen- 
cies of the country, many serious difficulties were to be en- 
countered — the efforts of small states to retain the advantages 
of sovereignty — the reluctance of large states to give up any 
portion of the weight and influence incident to extent of juris- 
diction and excess of population — the claims of the southern 
states arising out of a large population of a peculiar character 
— add to these, a general prejudice, almost co-extensive with 
the country, against divesting the states and clothing the Fed- 
eral Government with the important powers of peace and 
war and an exclusive control over the revenue arising from 
indirect taxation. It was naturally to be expected, that these 
causes, of themselves, should awaken the sympathies, and 
perhaps even arouse the passions of many citizens, who were 
zealously attached to the sovereign rights and powers of the 
states. But the distribution and limitation of the powers con- 
ferred upon the general government, more than all other con- 
siderations combined, contributed to give to those jealousies; 
and prejudices a keener edge. 

The convention, delegated to the duty of proposing a form 
of government, composed ol the greatest abilities and expe- 
rience in the country, after the most anxious, patient and ma- 
ture deliberation, unanimously offered to the consideration of 
the people for their adoption a constitution, which, probably, 
the favorite of none, but formed in a spirit of compromise 



'^nd amity, was acceptable to all. It is a sufficient evidenct^ 
of its excellencies and of its adaptation to the necessities and 
the wishes of the country, that, during a period of nearly for- 
ty years, it has been altered in only one essential particular, 
the manner of choosing the President and Vice-President. 
And it is now admitted by most of those, who urged that a- 
mendment, that, in that respect, it may have been altered with- 
out being improved. 

But, however perfect in theory it may seem to us, who 
have seen its benefits in experience, it was not at all surprising, 
that different minds operated upon by different motives and 
views should entertain discordant opinions of its merits. We 
all know from our own observation of public affairs, that a 
great political measure will rarely unite in its favour a perfect 
harmony of the popular will. Difference of sentiment may 
arise from different causes — the impulses of ambition — the ef- 
forts of selfish and unprincipled men, who hope to rise to em- 
inence in periods of high excitement, from which virtuous tal- 
ents are inclined to retire, — sometimes, from rival jealousies — 
and often, from an honest variance of opinion. All these may 
have contributed to call into action the warm controversy, 
which agitated the country in relation to the proposed new 
constitution. At the present day, it strikes us a matter of 
surprise, that it required the greatest exertion of talent and 
personal influence to procure the acceptance of that charter, 
ivhich we now admire, and almost venerate. 

You may not be aware, my fellow-citizens, that the contest 
was scarcely less eager in New-Hampshire than in other states. 
It had already been adopted by eight states, and it only re- 
quired the concurrence of ours to give it effect. Since that 
time, no question has probably occurred in our Legislative 
Hall, which has more deeply awakened the anxieties of the 
friends of national liberty. After a long and interesting dis- 
cussion, an interest intensely magnified on account of its influ- 
ence upon the future fortune of the whole country, the assent 
of New-Hampshire was yielded by a majority of only eleven 
votes in the whole number of 103. The variety of sentiment, 
which prevailed in relation to the propriety of adopting the 
constitution, receiving, as it now does, the warmest eulogies 
of all, is an instructive commentary upon the error of human 
opinions. At least, it should admonish us how fallible our de- 
cisions may be on questions viewed through the medium of 



10 

• 

passion aiul prejudice, under an excitement of popular feeling, 
or by any other test than that of a sober and enlightened 
judgement. 

It should be remembered, that on this occasion, for the 
first time, was witnessed the bitterness of political strife — then, 
was sown the seeds of those internal divisions, which have, at 
times, extinguished the charities of social intercourse, and al- 
most annihilated the impulses of patriotic feeling. As the 
evils apprehended from the operation of the constitution were 
not realized, the fears of the great body of the people were 
dispelled, and the asperities of the contest were nearly forgot- 
ten. It was not, until toward the close of Gen. Washington's 
administration, when the public mind was highly excited by 
an enthusiastic but, certainly, undeserved sympathy for the 
Revolutionists of France, in their conflicts with the other Eu- 
ropean powers, that the animosities of party contention were 
again exhibited. Such was the mistaken zeal of the time, 
that it required all the weight of personal character, which 
belonged to the illustrious father of his country, to maintain 
for this nation that position of neutrality in the European con- 
tests, which has ever since been considered as the polar star 
of our foreign policy. Washington, himself, great as were 
his claims upon the universal gratitude of the country, could 
hardly escape personal indignity. Even at the moment of 
his final retirement to the bosom of private fife, there were 
found a very few persons in Congress, among whom I may 
be permitted to designate an individual that now aspires to the 
highest ofiice in the nation, who refused to accord to the fa- 
ther of his country the respectful farewell of the national Le- 
gislature, because it expressed a hope, that " his illustrious ex- 
ample might be the guide of his successors." 

In the administration of his successor, there were other caus- 
es which contributed still further to increase the animosities 
of party — the difficulties with Frauce, arising out of her ag- 
gressions upon our commerce — the necessarily augmented 
expenditures of the Government, and the consequent increase 
of the burthen of taxation ; and, more than all, the never slum- 
bering jealousy of a certain portion of the Union. It ought 
not, kowever, to be forgotten, that New-England did not dis- 
trust either the ability or the patriotism of Mr. Adams. The 
Legislature of New-Hampshire, at that period, with great una- 
nimity expressed its entire confidence in both, and its approba- 
tion of the measures of his administration and of Congress. 



ir 

Among those, who concurred in this expression were found 
many, who have afforded an efficient support, at all times to 
the honest efforts of the General Government. 

Our collisions with the French Government were, however, 
soon adjusted, and the causes of discontent disappeared. 
For some years after the commencement of the present cen- 
tury, during an early period of the wars which desolated a 
great part of the European continent, the free commerce of 
the world seemed to be reserved for the exclusive enjoyment 
of our favoured country. The disastrous condition of other 
nations furnished a leady market for almost all the abundant 
productions of our soil. In the supply of their necesshies, 
we seemed to encounter no rivalship or competition except 
with ourselves. A tide of full and unexampled prosperity, 
such as no other country had ever witnessed, rolled in upon 
us its golden flood. The ardour of civil discord, too, was al- 
most forgotten in the general prosperity. That political tol- 
erance inculcated by Mr. Jefferson in his inaugural address, 
" We are all Federalists — We are all Republicans," had al- 
most attained to a practical illustration. But this bright pic- 
ture was soon to be reversed. Whatever might be the mutu- 
al hostile spirit of the contending nations, it was hardly to be 
expected that either of them should view with complacency 
the harvest of successful commerce, which we were gathering 
most abundantly from the misfortunes and calamities of both. 
Then commenced that series of indirect and of direct aggres- 
sions both of England and France upon our foreign com- 
merce, which were not less destructive than the hostilities of 
open war; and by the former power, the still more ofiensive 
invasion of the personal rights of our citizens. Every effort 
of expostulation and remonstrance was tried by our Govern- 
ment in vain. The more questionable policy of withdrawing 
our navigation from the ocean was also resorted to, and that, 
too, failed of attaining the object. The only and last alterna- 
tive that remained was quiet submission to repeated insuh and 
indignity or an appeal to arms. To the latter our Govern- 
ment did appeal reluctantly but necessarily. Y^ou all remem- 
ber the party virulence which the administration of that day 
i were obliged to contend widi. For that party I, certainly, 
am no apologist. All history shews us, that pohtical associa- 
tions in limes of high excitement, whether arising from causes 
real or imaginary, are unjust and often unscrupulous as to 
the means of accomplishing their objects. But it should W 



I 



12 

remembered, that party zeal, even when directed against the 
administration of the Government under which we live, does 
not necessarily imply a want of patriotism. 

There are few of us, who have learned the mutabihty of 
public opinion in other free countries — aye more — who have 
observed it in our own free country, and would not be reluc- 
tant to stigmatize the most virulent political enthusiasm with 
the odium of treason. It is one of the great blessings of a 
free government — that its citizens may differ in opinion and 
the country be safe — that even error and delusion may have a 
momentary triumph, without uprooting the foundations of lib- 
erty. But civil dissentions, although they may be consistent 
with the safety of the republic, are, nevertheless, dangerous, 
and must be considered by every man, who values its institu- 
tions or derives any pleasure from the harmony of social in- 
tercourse among his fellow citizens, as a great evil. 

I appeal to the experience, to the recollection of you all, if 
you did not consider the few past years, when you could meet 
your fellow citizen, your neighbour, without an averted eye. 
lest an interchange of cold civility might abate something from 
party bitterness — when you could come together in your little 
political assemblies, without encountering strange, uncouth, 
and hitherto unheard of epithets of reproach ; yes, more, 
when your fellow citizens, in the pursuits of private hfe, and 
among them, those, who have shared largely of your respect, 
esteem and honours, were not exhibited in caricature in the 
newspapers of the day — in fine, when party appellations were 
forgotten, but your country remembered ; I appeal to your 
candid judgement, if those were not better days of the Republic. 

However much may be our regret, our senses convince us, 
that those days have passed by. The " era of good feelings" 
has now become a theme for scandal. Independent electors, 
who have heretofore scorned to sacrifice their free suffrages, 
are now called upon to be classed and drilled like standing ar- 
mies, and to move only in submission to the command of some 
self constituted leader. It may be well for us, if such a state 
of things shall not be succeeded by standing armies of anoth- 
er sort. 

Perhaps it may not be without instruction, for a few mo- 
ments, to pass in review upon some recent political events, 
and to inquire into the source of that high fervour of political 
excitement which all must acknowledge to exist. 



13 

At an early period after Mr. Monroe's second election a.^ 
President, many of the leading newspapers in New-England 
and in other parts of the country, nearly at the same period 
and as if by concert, expressed a preference for Mr. Crawford, 
as Mr. Monroe's snccessor. As the public mind in New- 
Hampshire had fixed upon Mr. Adams for that important sta- 
tion, recommended as he was by his talents, his long course 
of public service in subordinate civil offices and by the dis- 
tinguished ability with which he had uniformly sustained iiim- 
self in those offices, Mr. Crawford's claims prodiiced but lit- 
tle impression, although industriously advocated by the news- 
paper having the most extensive circulation in the State, 
There were, also, it is well known, two other competitors. Gen. 
Jackson and Mr. Clay. The advocate of Mr. Crawford in this 
State laboured zealously to prove that he was the exclusive Re- 
publican Candidate, although Mr. Crawford by his language, 
and in his official conduct had expressly disavowed that charac- 
ter ;* while at the same time he denounced his present favourite 
candidate, as having no proper qualifications for the office. 
By other journals, now" not less zealous in the cause of Gen. 
Jackson, his success was then deprecated " as a curse to the 
country."! Neither of the candidates being elected, Mr. Ad- 

*Mr. Crawford's liberal sentiments on political subjects were 
well known, and had recommended him much to the good opinion 
and favour of very many who had been the active supporters ot the- 
federal party. His liberality was specially manifested in one in- 
stance, in his official conduct, as Secretary of the Treasury. 

A Collector oi the Customs had been appointed at one of the prin- 
cipal ports m Rhode-Island, (at Newport it is believed,) and in 
making appointments to the subordinate offices of the Customs, 
the Collector, instead of re-appointing two ol the old incumbents, 
who were federalists, had appointed others, of the Republican party. 
Information of it being given to Mr. Crawford, he ordered the for- 
mer officers to be restored immediately. 

The correspondence, which occurred between Mr. Crawford and 
the Collector on this subject, was published at the time, and fully 
discloses Mr. Crawford's tolerant views in relation to former party 
distinctions. It did not, however, deter those who are now sound- 
ing the alarm of federalism most loudly from giving to him their 
zealous support. 

t Let the Journals alluded to speak for themselves. "We can- 
not consent," said the Richmond Enquirer, "to lend a hand to- 
wards the election of such a man as General Jackson. He is too 
little of a Statesman, too rash, too violent in his temper, his meas- 
ures too much incUned to arbitrary goveniment, to obtain the hum- 



14 

ains, Gen. Jackson and Mr. Crawford having the highest num- 
ber of votes, the election, by the House of Representatives 
was limited to one of those. Although Gen. Jackson had the 
largest number of electoral votes, Mr. Adams had received, 
by many thousands, the largest number of suffrages of the free- 
men of the United States. Mr. Adams, on the first ballotting 

ble support of the Editors of this paper. We could deprecate his 
election as a curse upon our country.'" 

"General Jackson," said the New-York Evening Post, "from 
the moment he was entrusted with command, has avowedly and 
systematically made his own will and pleasure the sole rule and- 
guide ot all his actions. He has suspended the executive, legisla- 
tive, and judicial functions, with military sway. He has insulted 
the executive of the United States; spurned its authority; disre- 
garded and transcended its orders. He has usurped the high pre- 
rogative of peace and war, entrusted by all nations to the sovereign 
power of the State, and by our Constitution, to Congress alone ! 
He has abrogated t!ie known lav\^s of nations, and promulgated a 
new code of his own — conceived in madness or folly, and u-ritten in 
blood ! He has, in fine, violated all laws, human and divine." 

Said the Albany Argus, " He, (General Jackson,) stands, in the 
minds of the people of this State, at an immeasurable distance from 
the Executive Chair ; that his habits, aside from his politics, are 
quite too summary for that.'" 

Alluding directly to Gen. Jackson, the present editor of the New- 
York Enquirer said, "that it would be a sin to confer either the first 
or second office in this Union on a man who sets laws, constitution, 
party, friends, and principles at defiance?" 

Such were the opinions inculcated by these journals, before (Jiey 
started upon the race of opposition to the present administra- 
tion. Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay were both before the country as 
candidates for the Presidency at that time. When have these 
journals expressed similar opinions respecting the two last indiAdd- 
uals, even though vexed by the provocations of party contention 1 
Does it not become good citizens looking to the best interests ot 
their country, to inquire whether the success of a party, having 
such a leader as these journals, the avowed organs and mouth- 
pieces of that party, have described General Jackson to be, will af- 
ford more security to their personal rights, to the republican insti- 
tutions or the general prosperity of these United States 1 

This is a question which we are called to act upon and decide, 
under that high responsibility which attaches to the exercise of a 
privilege, involving not only our individual rights but those of all 
our fellow citizens. In the choice of a chief magistrate, not only 
duty to ourselves, but the higher obligation of duty to our whole 
countrj'^ and to the cause of republican liberty, requires us to make 
a wise choice. Let this be the sanction under which our suffrages 
may be given, and our country will continue to be, as it is, safe, 
prosperous, and happy. 



15 

in the House of Representatives, received the votes of thirteen 
States and was elected President. I well remember, that the 
intelligence of that event was received with almost universal 
satisfaction in this State. The favourite candidate of New- 
Hampshire had been elevated to that dignity, to which we all 
acknowledged that his abilities and his long faithful services 
had given him just title. But, even before he was invested 
with the authority of office, opposition rallied its forces made 
up from fragments of all parties, supporters of each of the dis- 
appointed candidates, many of them before that period enter- 
taining- toward each other the most bitter personal and political 
enmity, Federalists and Democrats, those in favour of a lib- 
eral construction of the constitution and those who would limit 
its operation to the narrowest sphere of action, those who 
would encourage the industry of the country by a just pro- 
tection against foreign competition and those who boldly avow 
it as a maxim of politics on the floor of Congress, that since 
1820 '^they have purchased nothing north of the Petajjsco, and 
so help them God, they never ivill" chiming all together in 
one discordant harmony of effort and resolve "to put down the 
administration, though pure as angels." Starting upon a course 
so unexampled, it v.-as supposed that the moral sense of the great 
body of the people might be disgusted, and thus it became ne- 
cessary to invent some plausible excuse. Accordingly a letter 
was prepared, purporting to be the production of George 
Kremer, although by his own confession he was not the real 
author, charging Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay with bargain and 
corruption in relation to the election. This letter, dated six- 
teen days after Mr. Adams was elected, was sent to Philadel- 
j)hia to be published in a newspaper, which was. chiefly sup- 
ported by funds supplied by the intimate friend and biogra- 
pher of Gen. Jackson. Mr. Kremer, then a member of the 
House of Representatives, having acknowledged himself re- 
sponsible for the contents of the letter, Mr. Clay demanded an 
investigation of his own conduct by that body. A commit- 
tee was appointed for that purpose, and the pretended author 
of the letter declared his readiness to support the truth of the 
charges contained in it, but upon further consideration he de- 
nied the competency of the House to institute the inquiry, and 
so declined appearing before the committee. From the sub- 
sequent developement of this business, there is good reason 
to believe that the disappointed rival candidate of Mr. Adams. 



16 

was too intimately involved in this affair, and that it was ap- 
prehended, if too closely investigated, it might recoil upon the 
■real fabricator of the calumny. At a later period and in an 
unfortunate moment, Gen. Jackson in presence of a number 
of his friends repeated the same charge, pointing it more par- 
ticularly against Mr. Clay. One of those gentlemen, possess- 
ing more zeal than discretion gave immediate publicity to the 
declaration of his supposed injured friend. Mr. Clay, in a 
tone of manly and indignant defiance, demanded the proof. — 
Mr. Buchanan was then appealed to to confirm the charge, 
and with what success ? He promptly denied the whole mat- 
ter, so i'ar as it pertained to Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams.* From 
all the disclosures made concerning this subject, it appears 
that the con'uption was all on the other side. For Mr. Bu- 
chanan, before the election of Mr. Adams, and probably after 
his interview with the General, declared in the presence of 
Mr. Clay and a number of other gentlemen, that if Gen. Jack- 
son, should be elected, he could very readily determine who 
would be the Secretary of State, and that the person who would 
be selected was then present. This declaration of a warm 
partizan of Gen. Jackson, was, undoubtedly, intended to have 
its influence, and such was the construction then given to it. 
The character of Mr. Clay, however, was mistaken. His 
public conduct proceeded from higher and purer motives. 
He needed not the influence of the low arts of intrigue or of 
the baser act of corruption to elevate him to any station to 
which talents or eminent services are an adequate passport. 

What pretences were then resorted to to sustain this un- 
founded imputation ^ Why, it was this course of argument : 
Mr. Clay had voted for Mr. Adams and the latter had nom- 
inated the former to the Senate, as Secretary of State, which 
nomination was approved by five-sixths of that body. The 
conclusion which the justice of opposition makes is, not that 
the person recommended was honest and capable, but, that it 
was the result of a corrupt bargain. Do they not know that 

* The following is an extract from Mr. Buchanan's Speech, in 
the House of Representatives, during the last session of Congress. 

" Before, however, I commence my reply to that gentleman,(Mr. 
Everett,) I beg leave to make a few observations upon the last Pres- 
idential Election. I shall purposely pass over every charge which 
has been made, that it was accomplished by bargain and sale, or 
by actual corruption. If that loere the case, I have no knowledge of 
the fad; ajrd shall, therefore, say nothing about it." 



17 

die same judgement would condemn Mr. Jefferson to a like m- 
famy, for the appointment of Mr. Madison to the same office 
of Secretary of State, the latter having voted for Mr. Jeffer- 
son in the electoral college of Virginia ; for the appointment of 
Mr. Gailatin to be Secretary of the Treasury ; of Mr. Clai- 
borne, Governor of Mississippi Territory ; and of many other 
persons to other important offices all of whom voted for Mr. 
Jefferson in the House of Representatives ? Would the ene- 
mies of Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay mingle in their ruin the fair 
fame of Jefferson and Madison and others. Associated as 
they have been in their common efforts to promote the good 
of their country, I cannot doubt that a candid and sensible 
j>eople will pronounce a hke judgement upon them all. 

Another charge against Mr. Adams, which ought not to be 
passed without notice, relates to his accounts as a Foreign 
Minister. I am aware that it has been again and again 
confuted, but it is, nevertheless, asserted daily with all the 
confidence of truth. If you shew its falsity, it is repeated with 
the more assurance ; — indeed, it seems to be the moral of the 
ancient fable of the Hydra, the serpent of many heads, of 
which if you extinguished one, its loss was immediately suppli- 
ed by fifty. 

In a few words, I will endeavour to give you a statement of 
the facts, as they really exist. It may serve the double pur- 
pose of disclosing the truth in relation to this subject, and, also, 
of furnishing an example of the justice, which has been extend- 
ed to Mr. Adams by the party opposed to his administration. 

In 1809 Mr. Adams was appointed minister to St. Peters- 
burg, and, while residing there in that character, during the 
year 1813 the Emperor of Russia proposed to effect the re- 
storation of peace between this country and Great Britain by 
a negotiation to be conducted under his mediation. Mr. Ad- 
ams was appointed a commissioner to conduct that negotiation, 
in conjunction widi Messrs. Bayard and Gallatin. Before that 
period Mr. Adams had received the usual outfit and salary 
which had been allowed to all our foreign ministers. As it was 
supposed by Mr. Madison, then President, that Mr. Adams 
would be obliged to incur additional expenses under his new 
commission, he sent to him an outfit of ^'9000. Those ex- 
penses were actually incurred to a considerable extent. Af- 
ter the commission Was opened before the representative of 
the Emperor, our government was informed that England 

3 



IS 

TvOLiid not accede to the proposition, but would negotiate di- 
rectly at London or Gottenbuig. Tiie latter proposal was ac- 
cepted, and Messrs. Adams and Bayard were directed to re- 
pair to Gottenburg for that purpose, to be associated with Mr. 
Clay. Messrs. Gallatin and Russell were afterwards joined 
in the same commission. Mr. Adams performed this journey 
by sea, no other mode being then practicable, in the midst of 
winter, and, after a very hazardous navigation, he arrived in 
safety at Gottenburg. By mutual agreement the negotiation 
was transfered to Ghent, at which place, after a discussion of 
six months duration a treaty was concluded. During all this 
period Mr. Adams retained his commission as minister to the 
Russian Court, where his family still resided, and was subject- 
ed to all the expenses at that Court appertaining to his offi- 
cial character. For his services under the commission at 
Ghent Mr. Adams received nothing except his salary as min- 
ister to Russia, and the same contingent expenses which were 
allowed to his colleagues and are allowed to all foreign minis- 
ters. So the fact is, that Mr. Adams, for his services in ne- 
gotiating the Treaty of Ghent, and for his services under the 
mediation commission, received ^9000 only. The other mem- 
bers of the commission received an outfit and salary each of 
^18,000, neither of them for more services, two, for less. 

Mr. Adams was employed in the service of his country 
abroad for many years, and in various important missions. 
To exculpate him more fully from the charge of having receiv- 
ed extravagant sums of the public money, contrary to right or 
precedent, it may be useful to institute a comparison between 
his compensation and those paid to some of our other foreign 
ministers. 

Mr. Monroe was absent four years and eight months, em- 
ployed in four missions, in three different countries, and receiv- 
ed ^^82,000. In addition to this, he has received, by a special 
act of Congress in his favour, for certain items not allowed in 
the settlement of his account, including the interest more than 
f 19,000, which with the former sum amounts Jo .^101,000. 
Mr. Adams, for a term of service 40 days less, in four mis- 
sions, in three countries, received .5'75,000 ; making a difFer- 
•ence in the accounts as originally settled of $7000 in favor of 
Mr. Monroe, and ultimately of upwards of ^'26,000. Upon 
the most accurate examination it will be found, that no one of 
our foreign ministers has received less compensation than Mr, 
Adams for like services. 



19 

We ought not to forget that the compensation of foreign 
ministers is established by law, and tliat their accounts are set- 
tled and paid at the Treasury, agreeably to an uniform con- 
struction as fixed by the Executive. If great salaries are 
paid to persons holding such employments, it is rather the fault 
of the law than of the persons receiving them. But it is far 
from being the fact, that the compensation is extravagant, 
perhaps not even hberal. It is less, by more than one half, 
than it was during the Revolutionary war, when we were strain- 
ing every nerve to sustain a national existence ; and yet in 
these prosperous times, after a lapse of almost 15 years, the 
humble compensation of •^^'OOOO to Mr. Adams for negotiating 
that treaty of peace, the news of which thrilled every bosom in 
the land with ecstacy, for which and for its honorable condi- 
tions we stand more indebted to him than to any other man, 
has now become a byeword and a term of reproach. My 
fellow citizens, may the time never come when we shall need 
the services of such able, faithful public servants ; if misfor- 
tune, however, shall fall upon us, may we extend to them a 
richer reward of gratitude, least of all, may we spare them 
our reproaches. 

We hear it often alleged that the present administration is 
extravagant and prodigal of the public treasure. As a tale 
the most absurd, by being often repeated, will always gain 
some partial credit upon our credulity, a charge of this sort 
without proof presented in a plausible shape may have im- 
posed on some candid minds the appearance of truth. It has 
been said, that since Mr. Adams has been President, there has 
been an average expenditure of upwards of two millions a 
year more than during a like period of the preceding adminis- 
tration. Admitting this to be the fact, does it prove in the 
least degree the charge ? Is it a maxim in the common affairs 
of individuals, that every increased expenditure without refer- 
ence to the object is necessarily an indication of increasing 
prodigality ? Do you not, as agriculturalists, drain your mead- 
ows, build stone walls around your fields, extend the bounda- 
ries of your farms, enlarge your barns and granaries, and, do- 
ing this from your increased and abundant income, your sur- 
plus wealth, does such application of your money denote waste 
or profusion ? If such conduct be not censurable in the con- 
cerns of private men, must not the same argument apply with 
greater truth and propriety to the affairs of nations ? A just 



20 

• 

economy has ever been considered to be a wise and judicious- 
expenditure of money. Let it be shewn, that there has been 
an unnecessary, useless or improper application of the public 
funds, and then, let censure be applied to those who have err- 
ed — whether it be the Executive or the Legislative Depart- 
ments of the Government. 

But the question is, — has the Administration been prodigal ? 
The President, in both of his last messages, has urged upon 
the attention of Congress the observance of a strict economy. 
Estimates of the probable expenditures of each current year 
are annually prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury, un- 
der the direction of the President, and tiansmitted to Congress 
early in each session. Those estimates have been less dur- 
ing the administration of Mr. Adams than in that of his pre- 
decessor, by an annual average of more than a million and 
an half dollars. The objects to which the public funds are to 
be applied are specifically defined by Congress. If that body 
may choose to increase the number of those objects, or the 
amount to be applied to either of them, is the F^xecutive or 
Congress responsible ? The latter, niost certainly. The Ad- 
ministration is accountable for the faithful application of the 
monies appropriated to specific objects, and for the prudent and 
honest exercise of discretion, in whatever respect it may be 
entrusted with such power. 

It w^as the good fortune of the present administration during 
the last session of Congress, to be tried by a test in which 
prodigality or corruption could not hope to escape detection. 
A new member, having just left his constituents among whom 
all the tales of extravagance concerning the administration 
were current and famihar, and, like many honest but deceived 
men, believing them to be true, had no sooner taken his seat, 
than he thrust into the House of Representatives various reso- 
lutions of inquiry on this topic. As soon as these resolutions 
began to be seriously discussed and to excite an interest, the 
opposition were alarmed. A more shrewd partizan declared, 
that it was not the accepted time for inquiry and retrenchment, — 
in effect, that the party ought not to give the administration an 
opportunity, by an official investigation, to check the torrent of 
slanderous misrepresentation which was sweeping through the 
land, lest it might prolong the power of the present incumbent 
another term of four years, and attempted to arrest its further 
progress. This it could not do, without assuming a hazard- 



21 

ous responsibility. Tlie investigatioa proceeded, under the 
auspices of a committee composed of five opposed to the ad- 
ministration and two in its favor, invested with power to exam- 
ine witnesses on oath. A diligent and vigilant scrutiny, con- 
tinued for four months by this committee, has produced a 
book of two hundred octavo pages. It cannot be expected, 
perhaps your patience is already exhausted, that within the 
limits of this discourse, I sho-uld enter into a detailed examina- 
tion of the labors of that committee. I shall content myself 
with stating two or three facts, which may serve to illustrate 
the spirit by which a majority of the committee were guided. 
It appeared by the Treasury accounts of the last year, that, 
of the fund placed at the particular discretion of the Presi- 
dent, usually called secret service money, there had been dis- 
bursed about eight thousand dollars. It was known that Mr 
Cook, of Illinois, had been employed as a special agent of the 
Government to the Island of Cuba ; and evidence of a rumor 
was introduced by the majority of the committee into their re- 
port, that he had probably received or might have expected 
to receive ^5,500 for his services in the capacity above men- 
tioned. Here they proposed to leave the subject, no doubt 
expecting this shadow of probability to be impressed upon the 
public mind as the clear conviction of truth. The minority 
of the committee, composed of Messrs. Sergeant and Everett, 
desirous that the real facts might be made known, proposed 
to request the President to communicate, confidentially, infor- 
mation of the actual sum paid to Mr. Cook. This the com- 
mittee refused to do, under the pretence that they would re- 
ceive no information, which confidence should preclude them 
from disclosing to the House. To obviate this objection, it 
was afterwards proposed by the same gentlemen to ask for full 
and explicit information on the whole subject of Mr. Cook's 
mission to Cuba, to be -communicated, confidentially, or not, 
to the House, as the committee might think proper. This, too, 
was denied by the majority of the committee, without assigning 
any reason. To give the majority of the retrenchment com- 
mittee a still further opportunity of exhibiting their candour 
and impartiality, it was proposed by the minority, Messrs. Ser- 
geant and Everett, to obtain, through the chairman, informa- 
tion from the Executive, what amount had been expended 
from this fund for commissions instituted under the last ad- 
ministration and peffected by the present. This, too, was re- 
fused. 



3f2 

Since tlie Report of 'the committee was published, the 
President, to rescue himself from the imputation which this 
partial disclosure might lead to, has directed the Secretary of 
state to report the objects and extent of the disbursements 
from this fund since the inception of his administration. It 
now appears, that 1500 dollars only had been paid by Mr. 
Adams for any commissions created by his discretion. What- 
ever other sums have been paid by him, were for services or- 
dered and begun by Mr. Monroe, and accomplished, only, by 
Mr. Adams. That sum was received by Mr. Cook, and is the 
only expenditure from the secret service fund originated since 
the 4th of March, 1825. 

I may be allowed to mention another act of the committee, 
as more completely illustrating the impartial merits of the Re- 
trenchment investigation. After the report of the majority 
was prepared, it was desired by the gentlemen friendly to the 
administration, that a part of tlje report which animadverted 
upon certain acts of the Secretary of the Navy might be sub- 
mitted to him for explanation. This, too, was refused. 

What, think you, is the issue of this four month's effort of 
the Retrenchment committee ? Simply this, to strike oil' the ti- 
tle pages in printing executive messages to the House — not of 
messages to the Senate, in whose printers, you recognize the 
editors of the Telegraph, assailants of the privileges of Con- 
gress and of officers of the Government. I think we may 
well agree, although perhaps for different reasons, with the 
chief of the opposition, that the present time, is not the accept- 
ed time for retrenchment. 

I will leave this topic, with which you are undoubtedly wea- 
ried, and turn to a more agreeable theme. Under the pro- 
tection of the government, your agriculture and manufactures 
enjoy a moderate and give promise of attaining to a much 
higher degree of prosperity. The policy that looks stead- 
ily to the protection of American industry, of every charac- 
ter, against tbe fluctuating and, consequently, ruinous compe- 
tition of foreign labour and capital, seems now to be establish- 
ed upon a firm basis. The conditions of a liberal intercourse 
between nations, (and there should be none other) are a free 
reciprocal interchange of the produce of each. If restrictions 
upon commerce are imposed by other nations, the principles 
of self defence require that we should meet them with the 
like restrictions. If England refuses to receive our abundant 



23 

agricultural productions in exchange for her manufactures, 
shall we not manufacture for ourselves, and sustain our agri- 
culture in the consumption of its products by our own arti- 
zans ? This policy, the success of which the capacious mind 
of Mr. Hamilton anticipated iiearly forty years ago, which Mr. 
Jeftersoii twelve years since, declared to be " as necessary I.0 
our Independence, as to our comfort," and exemplified his 
faith by his works, " in purchasing nothing foreign, when an 
equivalent domestic fabrick could be obtained," is fast attain- 
in"- to the dignity af a settled maxim in our political economy. 
In this way we shall relieve ourselves from that real depend- 
ance upon European policy, which the great Chatham was 
most of all desirous of inflicting upon the colonies, although he 
exerted all the powers of his commanding eloquence to give 
free scope to their thoughts and personal rights. Knowing the 
actual dependance which would exist in a necessity for the 
supply of English manufactures, he declared that " he would 
not suffer the colonies to manufacture a hob-nail." From 
having been the dependants, we are now the rivals of England 
in the arts of manufacture. Our export of cotton goods, the 
product of New-England labour chiefly, amounts to a little less 
than one million of dollars annually. You are all aware of the 
vast supplies of the same article for domestic consumption. 

The woollen manufacture is of still greater importance, as 
our agriculture furnishes both the raw material and subsistence 
for the manufacturer. When we reflect that the woollen fac- 
tories in the single town of Somersworth will consume the wool 
which might be grown upon a thousand farms having each an 
hundred sheep, and upon the proportionate increase of the 
consumption of that material, by a much greater increase ot 
that species of manufacture, when we reflect upon the mul- 
tiplied demand created by manufacturing labour in all its con- 
nexions for the productions of agricultural labour, we may well 
anticipate an abundant harvest of national prosperity. Its ben- 
eficial effects have been already tested and are visible in the 
improved appearance of our farms and houses, in the increas- 
ed value of our lands, in the constant demand and liberal re- 
ward for labour, in the flourishing aspect of our villages and 
fields, in the activity and enterprise of our citizens. AH these 
advantages are secured to us by that system of American pol- 
icy which the wisdom of our government has heretofore pro- 
moted, and which has been cfaerished, too, with increased care 



by the vigilance of the present administration. Let us see to 
it, then, that our high hopes are not cast down in an evil mo- 
ment. Let those be supported by the country who support 
the prosperity and independence of the country. Our cardi- 
nal interests are safe in the hands of tried friends, in those of 
avowed enemies they can never be safe.* 

The personal rights of our citizens, so far as the influence of 
the executive arm of the government extends, are protected by 
a just and impartial execution of the laws. Each of us may 
"sit- down under our own vines and fig trees," in the quiet en- 
joyment of the fruit of our labours. It is true, we may some 
of us be annoyed by that strange and inexplicable spirit of party 
mania, which seems to pervade every thing around us, and, as 
it were,to detract something from the dignity of reason. It may, 
nevertheless, be one of those partial evils which are consistent 
widi greater good. I will not believe, that the contest between 
Caesar and the Republic is yet come ; when the dissentions of 
pai'ty can only be quieted by the suppression of all parties and 
of liberty itself. On the contrary, I believe it is far distant. I 
would even hope, that in these, its best days, for virtue and 
purity, we may furnish no evil example for the future Caesar. 
If other and evil days should come, however it may suit the 
temperament of other men's minds to side with Caesar, I know 
well, you will be found where the freemen of New-Hampshire 
have ever been found, — on the side of liberty and tlie republic. 

* See Note on the next page. 



NOTE. 



The policy of encouraging our manufactures by an increased 
duty upon foreign goods had its origin in the great inconveniences 
which were experienced throughout the whole country, during the 
last war,in consequence of the suspension of our trade and intercourse 
With Europe. After peace had been concluded, and the basis of 
our connexion with foreign powers, depending upon our own laws, 
came to be settled by Congress, it was considered a main object, 
that the country should be placed in such a situation as not to suffer 
as heretofore from the hostile regulations of foreign powers. Past 
experience suggested the propriety of giving a more efficient organ- 
ization to the army, of increasing the navy, of more effectually for- 
tifying the sea coast, and of furnishing ourselves with supplies of 
such articles as could be advantageously manufactured in this coun- 
try and for which we had hitherto been dependent upon foreign 
nations. In arranging the Tariff of duties at that time especial re- 
ference was had to this latter object. The Middle and Western 
States, whose pursuits were most exclusively agricultural, consid- 
ered their interests as particularly identified with the support of that 
policy, which has since been called the American System. The 
Southern States only in part concurred, and the New-England 
States, largely concerned in commerce, were almost unanimously 
opposed to it. It was, however, by successive laws adopted as a 
part of the national policy. In the faith that those laws would be 
sustained, a considerable portion of the capital of the New-Eng- 
land States had been withdrawn from other pursuits and invested 
in manufactures. Those who had thus engaged in these new en- 
terprises, as it were at the instance and by the invitation of the Gov- 
ernment, might well confide in its justice for protection against 
foreign counter regulations. 

By the Tariff of 1824, a large additional duty was imposed upon 
foreign wool for the advantage of the American wool-grower, and a 
small, but not correspondingly increased duty was also levied upon 
wooUen cloths. During the same year and after the enactment of 
our law, the English government reduced the duty on foreign wool 
to an amount nearly nominal. So that, while the English manu- 
facturer paid almost no duty, (not exceeding a penny per pound 
upon wool of the finest quality) the American manufacturer was 
obliged to pay a duty of thirty-three per cent, upon foreign wool, 
constituting as it did a very considerable portion of his raw mate- 
rial, and regulating the price of all of it. Under such circumstances, 
it was not surprising that the American manufacturer could not sus- 
tain a competition with the English manufacturer, and was subject- 
ed to immense sacrifices, involving in some instances nearly his 
whole capital. From such inequality created by British legislation 
4 



26 

they petitioned Congress to be relieved, by increasing the duties 
on woollen goods. No request, certainly, could be more reasona- 
ble. The government were bound to make effectual all the en- 
couragement, which was proposed to be given to the manufacturer 
by the law of 1824, against the counter regulations of any foreign 
government. If such were not its duty, there would be hardly a 
single department of labour which could be secure against a suc- 
cessful foreign competition. A bounty upon exportation might glut 
our markets with Irish butter, potatoes or beef. It would be pro- 
nounced a weak and spiritless policy, that would submit to have 
our agricultural products excluded from our own markets by such 
foreign artifices. The woollens bill, which passed the House of 
Representatives in 1827 and was refused consideration in the Sen- 
ate, by the casting vote of the Vice-President, was designed to pro- 
vide against this injury. The continued suffering of that class of 
our farmers and manufacturers, concerned in the growth and manu- 
facture of wool, pressed this subject again upon the attention of 
Congress at the last session. The state of the woollen, as well as 
of other manufactures was thoroughly investigated and ascertain- 
ed by the testimony of well informed witnesses. This examination 
shewed that the woollen interest, comprehending a capital of near- 
ly forty millions of dollars, was verging rapidly to an irretrievable 
ruin, attributable principally to the cause before mentioned. Re- 
lief must come soon, or it would come too late. By the power of 
the House this great interest was entrusted to the protecting care 
of a committee — manifestly hostile to it. The consequence was, 
that a bill was presented dealing out large favours to such depart- 
ments of industry as did not need them — refusing all favour to that 
which was perishing for the want of bare justice — and upon other 
branches of trade imposing most grievous burthens. After a two 
month's discussion and efforts for amendment repeated again and 
again, until further endeavours to that purpose were evidently fruit- 
less, the bill passed the House of Representatives substantially in 
the form in which it came from the committee. The majority in its 
favour, however, was very small, many of those most solicitous, I, 
might say, even personally interested for protection to the woollen 
manufacture, voting against the bill, others, with the same views, 
voting for it, in hope that it might be made better in that and in 
other respects in the Senate. In this hope they were not eritirely 
deceived. The bill was amended essentially in respect to the wool- 
len manufacture, and in its amended form has become a law. 

The Southern and South-Western States are now opposed to the 
whole manufacturing system ; the former denying to the general 
government the power to make laws for the purpose of sustaining 
it. Entertaining these opinions, they did, nevertheless retain in 
the bill those provisions, confessedly the most obnoxious. Without 
their votes, the duties on coarse wool, such as cannot be grown in 
this country, on molasses, on hemp, on certain linen manufactures 
could not have been imposed, or tlie drawback on spirits distilled 
from imported Molasses have been taken away. 

The great object of a tariff, aside from revenue, is to promote 
such branches of industry as are particularly adapted to our climate. 



27 

soil and population, or necessary to national security, and to coun- 
teract the injurious effects resulting from laws or decrees in aid of 
the interested policy ot foreign powers. The people of New-Eng- 
land have never asked lor the passage of laws to regulate private 
industry. Tliey have always been averse to them. But having 
been invited, or rather compelled to invest their property in manu- 
factories by laws enacted against their will, they may justly claim 
that those laws shall be faithfully executed. It is believed, that 
the last Tariff does nothing more in favor of the woollen manufac- 
turer, than fairly to secure for him that protection which was in- 
tended to be given by that of 1824. But even this justice has been 
purchased with such onerous conditions, as to make it doubtful 
whether more has been gained than lost^o New-England. 

The sensibility created in the South by the last tariff, fashioned 
in its details as it has been by their own votes, is, nevertheless,such 
that even the Union of the States seem to be of little value, com- 
pared with the accomplishment of their own notions of publip poli- 
cy. A confederacy of certain States, interdicting commercial in- 
tercourse with their sister States, is seriously threatened, and, as 
the last resort, a cmsade against Eastern cities and Eastern manu- 
factories ; intending, probably to verify the declaration of Mr Ran- 
dolph, 

"Delenda est Carthago," 

the modern version of which is, "Down with the Yankees." 

The Southern doctrine, as affirmed by legislative resolutions, 
teaches that protecting duties are contrary to the Constitution. 
Hence it becomes, in their view, not merely a measure cf sound poli- 
cy, but an injmiction of Constitutional vhligation, to repeal all protect- 
ing duties. This determination is distinctly avowed. The contrary 
policy of protecting and encouraging our own industry, v,'hich has 
been observed ever since the foundation of the government, com- 
mencing with the first act of Congress, who are now called upon to 
abandon in obedience, it is said, to the precepts of the Constitution. 
And what is the substance of this doctrine "? Why, that we must buy 
of other countries, which refuse to buy of us — that we must submit 
to have our cattle, sheep, swine, beef, mutton, lamb, pork and flour 
prohibited in the foreign market, provided cotton shall be admitted 
almost duty free , or it, with these restrictions upon trade in the sta- 
ple products of the Western, Middle, and Eastern States, they shall 
presume to manufacture even a "hob-nail," thatthey must enter into 
competition with the immense capital of England, with its necessi- 
tous population, with its jealousy of our rising manufactures, which, 
a distinguished living British Statesman thought, should be sup- 
pressed although it might cost millions to effect it. A repeal of 
the protecting duties would surely accomplish this most desirable 
object for England, by permitting her to throw in upon us all her 
surplus manufactures, and thereby to create such fluctuations in 
price as would inevitably ruin our manufacturers. That done, she 
would have the exclusive possession of the market, and sell us her 
goods at her own prices. We should then stand in the same rela- 
tion to her that a gTeat part of Europe did to us, when nearly the 
•whole continent was devastated by war and the staff of life was 



28 



^ 



ministered to its population by the American agriculturalist. When 
we perceive so portentous an excitement originating m so inade- 
quate a cause, we may be excused for expressing a suspicion, that 
reasons of state may have induced our Southern brethren to prefer 
that their great staple should find its consumption in the workshops 
of Europe. Perhaps the manulacturing arts may cover New-Eng- 
land with plenty and the "busy hum of men," as they have other 
climates not more genial and other soils not more fertile. These 
may, possibly, give her that weight in the balance of the Union, 
which nature had otherwise denied. 

Much more might be said on this important subject than would 
be admissible wilhni the just limits of this publication. It is, how- 
ever, of great moment, that we should not suffer this object of the 
highest interest to us to escape our jealous care. The policy of the 
government is now established, and may be preserved and prosper, 
if its guardianship be entrusted to those whose vigilance has steadi- 
ly protected it. What prudent husbandman would commit a lamb 
to the wolf to be nursed and defended 1 This absurdity would be 
exemplified fully, if we were to commit our growing manufactures 
and improving agriculture, inseparably united as every man's ex- 
perience proves them to be, to the keeping of those, whose maxims 
of national policy we know to be adverse to both of those branches 
of indu.stry, as they exist with us. 



